About Screen Inc.

Screen Inc. developed one of the top-rated neuropsychological tests in the U.S. — the Computer-Administered Neuropsychological Screen for Mild Cognitive Impairment (CANS-MCI). Development took over 7 years before the tests became commercially available due to an extensive evaluation of doctors’ needs, the special needs of geriatric patients, the capabilities of computers when used by computer illiterate patients, and the most rigorous possible test validation procedures.

Screen Inc was initially financed with $880,000 in grant support from the VA and the National Institute on Aging. That support was used to develop the tests, study ways to optimize their usability in doctors’ offices serving elderly patients, and then study the validity and reliability of the final tests. The result is a top-rated test battery already available to physicians in several countries and several languages so they can essentially “outsource” the memory testing of their patients. Screen’s tests are currently available in American English, country-specific English versions for Canada and England, American Spanish, Canadian French, Spanish for Argentina, and Portuguese for Brazil.

In 1998, Dr. Emory Hill, a psychologist who was to become the founder of Screen Inc., was coping with his father’s death due to Alzheimer’s disease. He surveyed physicians to find out why they didn’t routinely screen for Alzheimer’s even though they knew the benefits of alerting families, starting treatment early, and keeping patients safe as the disease progressed. The physicians’ replies fell into several categories reflected by the following selected comments:

“We’re not convinced that there is a test out there that can detect MCI.”

Some of us use the MMSE, but by the time it picks up cognition problems, it just confirms what the family already knows – the patient has Alzheimer’s.”

“We don’t have the staff time to routinely screen for decline.”

“It is too expensive to screen, for what we can charge.”

Driven by a desire to create a completely new battery of tests capable of economically detecting MCI in its earliest stages, Dr. Emory Hill founded Screen, Inc. As we continue to advance the company’s mission, we dedicate our work to the memory of James C. Hill and to all the other patients, and their families, whose lives have become entangled with Alzheimer’s. We know that this work is worthy of our best efforts.

Our story is still unfolding and we make new adjustments every day. But one thing has never changed: we are still focused on the economical early detection of memory problem onset and doctor follow-up for the elderly. We stay closely connected to our physician/customers and with cutting-edge Alzheimer’s researchers, insuring that Screen’s tests will continue to evolve and help physicians. Most importantly, our hope is that Screen’s tests will make a difference in the health and happiness of patients, families and friends.

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Senior Management

Emory Hill, Founder of Screen Inc., served as CEO from 2000 until 2012. Emory guided the Screen team to a leadership position in CNS Assessments/Testing – with a specialty in computer-directed neuropsychological testing for the purposes of detecting MCI (Alzheimer’s) and other dementia- and injury-related cognitive impairments.

Early in the company’s development, Emory received grants from the NIA and VA to develop new, cutting-edge neuropsychological tests capable of detecting MCI. He is an expert in computer-directed neuropsychological testing for the early detection of MCI and a speaker at scientific conferences, workshops, and Alzheimer’s forums. As an advocate of early screening for memory problems, Emory has worked closely with senior centers, social workers, community health centers, geriatric providers, and neurologists over the years.

Dr. Hill received his PhD in Clinical Psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Later he completed an Informatics Fellowship at the VA where he studied interface design, multimedia programming, user resistance, and the implementation of automated medical records. A psychometric specialist, Emory ran a group private practice and he was an Assistant Professor of Psychology at SUNY, Brockport, NY. The exceptional user-friendliness of the CANS-MCI has been widely recognized and attributed to his specialty training along with several years of research and development specific to the dimension of usability.

After 2 years as the COO at Screen, Inc., Mr. Costa assumed the top leadership position in 2012. Mr. Costa brought over thirty years of experience as a high level executive in dynamic technology companies, ranging in size from privately held start-ups to publicly held multinational organizations. He has demonstrated an impressive track record of success as CEO of publicly traded companies, as well as VP of Marketing, Group Vice President and General Manager of numerous successful organizations.

Throughout his career Mr. Costa founded companies, obtained financing from variety of sources both private and public, managed both small as well as multinational operations for growth and profitability, and expanded the businesses through successful mergers and acquisitions.

Most recently, Mr. Costa was CEO of Perlego Systems, Inc. a privately funded startup in the Mobility space. Prior to that he was the CEO of Active Voice Corporation, a publicly held company, for five years, during that period he was able to successfully double Active Voice’ revenues and to triple its stock price. In 2001 he negotiated and concluded an agreement to sell Active voice to Cisco Corporation for $300 million (4X the revenues).

Prior to Active Voice Mr. Costa served as president and CEO for privately held companies such as ProTools Inc, and Concept One Design Inc, Group Vice President at Mentor Graphics, VP of Marketing at Orcad, and Director of European Marketing at Intel Corporation. He was also one of three founders of Synergy DataWorks, an EDA company that was subsequently acquired by Mentor Graphics.

Mr. Costa holds an MBA in International Business from the University of Chicago 1977 and BS in Electrical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 1975

Brian Fogel has served as Director of Technology at Screen Inc. since 1999. Brian is responsible for application design, development, and deployment; as well as media design and production. Brian also serves as Principal of Art in Fact, a digital media and web development company located in Seattle.

Jo Laboff began her work with Screen Inc. in 2002. As an integral part of the company’s early research and validation studies under grants from the NIA, she managed over a thousand participant testings with the CANS-MCI and now oversees all aspects of Screen’s clinical services. Ms. Laboff has extensive background in providing assessment, consultation and education to individuals and families touched by Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia and cognitive impairments. In addition to service with older adult populations, she has assisted individuals and families of all ages dealing with mental health and behavioral issues.

Ms. Laboff earned a Master of Clinical Social Work and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, with distinction, both from the University of Washington in Seattle, and is a certified Geriatric Mental Health Specialist.

Screen Inc. is very fortunate to have an outstanding Scientific Advisory Board. Each Advisor has extensive experience in areas that are important to the advancement of the Screen test battery. Through their expertise in neuropsychological test design, dementia, clinical neurology, informatics, epidemiology and psychiatry, they help guide Screen in new grant applications and in the identification and adoption of the latest scientific, medical and statistical findings into its test battery.

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Science Advisory Board

He received his Ph.D. in Life-Span Developmental Psychology from The University of Akron in Ohio and completed postdoctoral fellowships at the Duke University Medical Center in Neuropsychology and Geriatric Evaluation & Treatment.

Throughout his distinguished career, Dr. Schmitt has developed and evaluated statistical methodologies for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease—and for the statistical assessment of various treatment interventions.

A prolific researcher with over 150 publications, Fred’s research interests are in the areas of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, neurocognition testing, clinical trial assessments and biostatistics.

As a clinical scientist, Fred’s primary focus is on the evolution of dementia—especially for aging, HIV, and epilepsy populations. He was the first to demonstrate the impact of HIV on neurocognition, and the response of CNS functions to antiretrovirals (AZT, NEJM, 1988). Fred recently worked with Eisai, Pfizer, Wyeth and others on the design of testing protocols for clinical trials that evaluated new drug therapies for cases of dementia and MCI.

Over his career, Fred has served many organizations that are furthering research in dementia. For example, over the last ten years, he served on the National Institute on Aging: Special Emphasis Panel on Clinical Trials. Before that, he served as the Chair of the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study (NIA)/Severe Impairment Committee—working on the development of neurocognitive assessments for advanced dementia. And, he was advisor to the AIDS Clinical Trials Group, and to the NIMH Office of AIDS Research.

At the University of Kentucky, Fred also serves as a co-director of the Memory Disorders Clinic and as co-director of the Biostatistics and Data Management Core at the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center /UK Medical Center.

Soo Borson is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine and is the Director of the University of Washington Medical Center’s Memory Disorders Clinic.

Dr. Borson is a graduate of Stanford University’s School of Medicine. She completed her residency at the University of Washington’s Psychiatric and Geropsychiatric Programs and is board certified from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (subspecialties in Geriatric Psychiatry and General Psychiatry). Soo is a Fellow of the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership Program in Academic Medicine.

Soo’s clinical interests focus on diagnosis and treatment of dementias. Her research activities bridge clinical neuroscience and health services—focusing principally on improving early diagnosis and comprehensive care for cognitive disorders of late life.

A prolific publisher (hundreds of articles) and lecturer on depression and dementia (grand rounds, symposia and continuing education)—and a core investigator in the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center—Soo has provided leadership and service to many organizations throughout her career, including serving as past Chair of the NIMH Mental Disorders of Aging/Initial Review Group, past President of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, and past President of the Geriatric Mental Health Foundation. She currently serves as senior editorial advisor to the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and is Associate Editor (Neuropsychiatry) of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Over the last thirty years, Bill has been a physician partner with Neurological Medicine, P.A., a six person neurology practice in Maryland. His practice deals with the care of adults and children with neurologic illnesses. Many of the medical conditions that Bill treats are epilepsy, stroke, headaches, and attention deficit in children. In addition to his practice responsibilities, Bill serves as Adjunct Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins Department of Neurology.

Dr. Leahy received his MD Northwestern University, with further training at Children’s Memorial Hospital, Chicago. Later, he served as a research assistant in neurochemistry at the National Institutes of Health and did his residency in neurology at Johns Hopkins.

Dr. Leahy is board certified in Pediatrics and Neurology with specialty in Child Neurology, is a Fellow in the American Academy of Neurology, and has served as an examiner for the board examination process. His undergraduate work was at Princeton.

Bill has authored over 30 scientific and clinical articles and book chapters in neurology, and has served on community health and educational committees. He is Chairman of the Division of Neurology at Prince George’s Hospital Center, and has served as Chairman of the Division of Quality Assurance at Doctors’ Community Hospital.

Bill is the author of a textbook, Providing Home Care, now in 3rd edition, a text used in over 400 programs in the country. His newest book, Caregiving at Home, was written for baby-boomers caring for parents and loved-ones at home.

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We hope that the information in this website is useful for your physician organization. If you have any questions about our tests, services or doing business with us, just send us an e-mail or call—we’ll get right back with you.